The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008

tions designed to evaluate six core competencies sought in successful candidates. The applicant must present evidence of competency in: leadership skills, managerial skills, interpersonal skills, communication and foreign language skills, intellectual skills and sub- stantive knowledge. Each essay must include a refer- ence with contact information, a verification element added to catch fraudulent claims as well as deter them. Registration now also includes filling out the so- called “structured resumé,” a comprehensive form sim- ilar to the one used by the Diplomatic Security Bureau for the security checks later in the process. The appli- cant must provide all the standard biographic details, including job history, education, overseas experience and plenty of other background information. In addition, when they register, candidates must select their desired career track (formerly called “cones”): Consular, Political, Economic, Management or Public Diplomacy. Though the political career track is still the most sought-after, State has been hiring a roughly equal number of officers for each track in recent years. Hiring is based on the needs of the Service for officers in each category at any given time, and successful applicants will be put on the register for their selected career track only — so choosing can be a tricky exercise. Candidates also provide a self-assessment of lan- guage abilities when they register. Any candidate who claims a “Super Critical Needs Language” — Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Farsi, Dari, Hindi and Urdu — is instructed to take an FSI telephone test immediately after they pass the written exam. That language test is given on a pass/fail basis, with a Level 2 speaking score required to pass. Other languages are considered later in the process. Today’s Written Exam After completing the registration, candidates reserve a “seat” during any future testing window. For 2007 and 2008, HR set a maximum of 20,000 test-takers per year, F O C U S J U N E 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 19